About

Joel Parkinson is a 17-year veteran of the Championship Tour. The legendary stylist from the Gold Coast of Australia has 12 CT victories to his name. The first came at Jeffreys Bay in 1999, where he was competing as a wildcard. His latest came at the Oakley Bali Pro in 2013. Parkinson’s remarkable career includes four runner-up finishes to the World Title (2002, ’04, ’09, ’11). In 2012 he finally nabbed the title he so deserved, edging11-time World Champion Kelly Slater to get it done. It was sweet redemption after his stinging loss in 2009. That year Parkinson had what appeared to be an insurmountable lead thanks to three wins during the first half of the season. But during the mid-summer break he injured his ankle, and it showed. He suffered three early-round losses while his longtime Gold Coast sparring partner, Mick Fanning, won three events of his own. Fanning snatched the World Title (his second) in the final event of the year at Pipeline. Amazingly, Parkinson has never taken a year off since joining the Championship Tour full time in 2002. While he’s pondered retirement, in 2017 he claimed to be having as much fun as ever, though he’s admittedly not chasing World Titles like he once was. For now, the 36-year-old father of three is also enjoying his place as the elder statesman on Tour.